July 07, 2011
AC #69 Now Available.
The Thrity Rooms To Hide In Addition.
John and Tug talk with Master Jedi Luke Sullivan about his new book Thirty Rooms To Hide In, creativity and getting out of advertising. It's a great Sunday afternoon chat with almost no cursing and only minorly bothersome mouth sounds.
And stay tuned. 'Coming in August 2011: The American Copywriter Reboot.
March 29, 2011
Star Wars -- Info graphic stye.
Does this rock or what? Wish it was a little clearer when it gets embiggened, but hey, I know the story. (So do you.)
February 10, 2011
Vader Outtakes.
Great spot. Great idea to release the "unseen footage." Relieved and happy that they never gave into the temptation to actually levitate anything in the final cut. I like the reverse of Mom and Dad, too.
January 20, 2011
Colbert and the artist
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Art Stephen Up Challenge - Wade Hampton | ||||
| ||||
Friend of AC, best man of JJ, and super art guy Wade Hampton was the first artist featured in the Colbert's Nation user generated art contest. More evidence that the AC nation still rules. You may or may not remember Wade from this old AC episode about creativity.
November 12, 2010
Follow Friday
We at American Copywriter are totes addicted to dedicated users of Twitter. And while we don't understand why in the world over 6 million people follow Ashton Kutcher, there are definitely a few pretty popular tweeters that we enjoy. So here they are:
@LeeClowsBeard - All hail the beard. No other facial ornamentation shall come before him.
@Steffan1 - Official account of advertising badass Steffan Postaer
@PRSarahEvans - Making big waves in the PR and social media worlds.
@ChrisBrogan - Creator of the #2 ranked AdAge blog. Need we say more?
@AdFreak - Tweets courtesy of AdWeek's AdFreak blog.
@AdRants - The name is pretty self explanatory.
@AdContrarian - So full of snark, and we mean that in the best way possible.
@Mashable - if you don't know, you better ask somebody.
@TheNextWeb - Tech news you need to know.
@EbertChicago - He's not just writing about movies anymore. Awesomesauce.
Know any other Twitterers worth following? Post 'em in the comments.
November 11, 2010
Snow White Redux
This track is created with vocal syllables, musical chords and sound effects recorded from the 1937 Disney classic Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs. A lot more cool stuff here.
November 05, 2010
Cleveland responds to LeBron's new spot.
Interesting (and nicely done) parody of the new LeBron spot. Wondering if any of friends in Cleveland have any additional info?September 20, 2010
A real revolution in social media.
You've probably seen this. I hadn't. This is right up my comedic alley. Best touch? "France likes this."
August 04, 2010
TheFunTheory.com Blows My Mind
I may be late to this party but I don't care: This shit is amazing. The thesis as put forth by thefuntheory.com:
This site is dedicated to the thought that something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better. Be it for yourself, for the environment, or for something entirely different, the only thing that matters is that it’s change for the better.
As proven by the piano/stairs video, they got it totally right. Add the fact that they also have a contest to crowdsource more ideas that prove their thesis, with videos and voting and such and the whole thing goes from great to simply brilliant. Seriously.
The biggest thing for me though, is who is sponsoring the whole thing. Right, it's VW. They are paying somebody to manage the site, to do the original stunts and to maintain the whole thing. Yet aside from the front page of the site, I don't see a VW logo anywhere. Or a picture of a car. Or a link to our newest TV campaign. Or even a list of correctly-spelled dealer names. Sure you've got a © Volkswagen at the bottom, but of course you're gonna get that.
My questions:
1. How do we get our clients to sponsor this kind of "initiative"? There's clearly a shocking amount of earned media here, but, as you guys know, that's really difficult to pin an ROI onto.
2. Are some clients just too unsophisticated or simply unwilling to greenlight a project like this? And if so, is there any way to get them to change their thinking?
3. What can you do that takes a non-advertising idea and turns it into way to get your clients earned media and, dare I say, viral attention?
In all, I think this is about the most awesome thing I've seen in awhile. What do you guys think?
May 27, 2010
AC #67 now available
The First Half of 2010 Edition.
Cruise into your Memorial Day weekend by cracking a cold one, settling down in your lawn chair and catching up with John and Tug via this rambling assemblage of various podcasts recorded in several locations and times.
00:00 Preamble about current affairs
01:43 Nike + World Cup - Glory
03:59 Chevy moves fast
05:03 HOW Design Conference news
06:54 Geeked up about the World Cup
12:39 Be less evil
19:08 Southwest flavor
20:05 John, Tug and Tiger
31:01 Kindling for the fire
Total running time 40:35
It should be a good one so why don't you download it already? Oh, and sorry for the wonky audio there at the beginning, JJ promises to figure it out for next time. Have a great holiday everyone!
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The daily life of a Texas Ad Monkey. We like Mack. - Madison AveNew
From "I'm stuck on Band-Aid brand" creator Harry Webber. - Make the Logo Bigger
Bill Green's cool blog about, what else, being an art director. - Mark Fenske
A great writer whom we are also proud to call our friend. - Marketing Spoonful
A blog for food marketers? Sounds delicious. - MultiCultClassics
High Jive's on multiculturalism in the ad industry and beyond. - Not Billable
A smartly written blog with, get this, a female's perspective on the biz. Man, that's different! - OTIS Productions
From left coast commerical director Russell Bates. - Russell Davies
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Ariel is funny, smart and ruthless. - SHS
An agency that stands out from the flock. - SHS Sheep Slayer Softball
God, we hope Sally Hogshead was right about that whole best creative/worst softball team thing. - Tangerine Toad
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The poetics of new media from Atlanta-based copywriter and Cartoon Network fiend Brandon Barr. - The Ad Contrarian
Crankily delicious. - The Ad Hole
From the man, the myth, the legend...Jason Fox. - The Bullshit Observer
Todd is the man. - The Client Side
Michael Seaton's refreshing take from the OTHER side o' the bidness. - The Hidden Persuader
Hidden? Not really. Planners this is a good haunt for you. - The Hog Blog
From the radical Sally Hogshead. - Todd And
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They made Cog. They made "Grr." They make us sick with how delicious their ads are. - Where's My Jetpack?
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